October 18

Legal History

By Karen Conti

Karen Conti is a litigation attorney and owner of ContiLaw LLC. She is a regular legal commentator on CNN and the local Fox affiliate. She hosts a radio show every Sunday on WGN AM 720 from 7 to 9 p.m. to discuss current legal events and to answer listeners’ questions.

Posted October 18, 2019 11:39 AM

1968Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos are suspended by the U.S. Olympic Committee for giving a "black power" salute during a ceremony at the Mexico City Summer Olympics.1969The U.S. government bans the artificial sweetener cyclamate out of fear it caused cancer. Studies not completed until the ’80s concluded the sweetener does not pose a cancer risk.

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Iowa Supreme Court blocks testimony about business records

In a case where prosecutors relied on the hearsay rule’s business-records exception to justify testimony about documents that weren’t admitted into evidence, the Iowa Supreme Court, citing decisions from across the country, reversed because “the rules of evidence create a ‘business records exception’ to the rule against hearsay and not a ‘testimony about business records exception.’”
By Steven P. Garmisa
Arizona high court rolls back clock to 1864 in abortion case

The Comstock Act of 1873 was referenced in the U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in the mifepristone case recently heard, and may play a factor in at least some of the justices’ decisions. Turns out, Arizona told a certain justice, we know you like beer, hold this beer.
By Daniel A. Cotter
Aggregation supports corporate liability in case against Walmart

Count 2 of a civil complaint that accused Walmart of violating the Controlled Substances Act — by “knowingly” filling “ineffective” prescriptions from June 2013 to November 2017 — relied on mashup that combined the conduct of innocent pharmacists with the allegedly culpable knowledge of Walmart’s CSA “compliance team.”
By Steven P. Garmisa
6th Circuit mulls over mileage reimbursement for delivery drivers

In two cases consolidated for appeal about the correct reimbursement rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act for pizza delivery drivers who use their own vehicles, one district judge agreed with the drivers — ruling they are entitled to the standard rate of $0.54 per mile set by the Internal Revenue Service for business deductions in 2018.
By Steven P. Garmisa
PLA on Dramshop Act time limit among latest high court denied

Building on last week’s column on rulings on petitions for leave to appeal from the Illinois Supreme Court on March 27, this week we review more of the numerous and important denials.
By Patrick Eckler
2nd Circuit splits on ‘bad faith’ in eminent domain case

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split on the validity of a complaint that alleged a New York town’s taking of Ben and Hank Brinkmann’s real estate for an “unimproved park” — i.e., an empty field — was a pretext that violated the 5th Amendment’s takings clause, because the municipality’s “real motive” was to block them from using the property for a big-box hardware store with an 80-car parking lot.
By Steven P. Garmisa
Books open window to difficult topic of injustice, violent deaths

During Black History Month, scores of judges from the Illinois Latinx Judges’ Association went to read to elementary school children across the city of Chicago. I had the honor of reading to a group of Brighton Park fourth-graders on the Southwest Side.
By Justice Ramon Ocasio III
Court splits on requirement to establish standing in case over racial diversity program

On appeal from an order that denied an association’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking Pfizer Inc.’s racial diversity program, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split on whether an association that asks for this extraordinary remedy “must name at least one injured member” to establish “associational standing” under Art. III of the U.S. Constitution.
By Steven P. Garmisa